Katie McCabe tells The Halfway Line that ‘I need to train how I play and I need to give 100%’ ahead of Arsenal’s must win second leg clash with Lyon in the UEFA Women’s Champions League.
The headstrong defender has always played for the cannon on her heart, leading the Gunners out against VfL Wolfsburg in the Champions League semi finals two seasons ago.
McCabe reflected on the moment, “I remember leading the girls out against Wolfsburg, and we were lined up, and I’m looking at our bench and the line of players that were out with long term injuries. It was incredible. It was Kim [Little], there was Caitlin [Foord], there was Viv [Miedema], Beth [Mead], Leah Williamson. It was crazy. So we had a depleted squad.
“People were kind of down and outing us really, so to be in this position now, and having grown through those difficult moments, you have to find the positives in those moments and the learnings from that. I think we’ve grown so much over those two years and really developed our game, especially how we play going forward. That’s down to Renée, the coaching staff as well for working us so hard out the training pitch. It’s exciting for us as a team. We’re excited going into this, and hopefully we can focus on what we can do.”
Speaking about what she has learnt about herself since that fateful evening in N5, McCabe admitted “I just try to continue to be myself. Turn up to training, work, and leave it all out there. I’m not anything else in between.”
“For me, how I prepare for games, whether it be with Arsenal or Ireland, I need to train how I play and I need to give 100% and demand for myself and demand for my teammates and younger players as well. That’s how I’ve always been and I don’t think at 29 now I’m going to change anytime soon.
“Over the last two years I’ve wanted to develop more tactically as well, and having initially Renée as assistant, Aaron [D’Antino] as well, spending time to help figure things out or look at things a bit differently. It’s been great, I think you can always learn, especially in football. There are always different pictures at different times. It’s just about enjoying it really.
McCabe is relishing the challenge that Arsenal will face this Sunday at the Groupama Stadium. “I’m very lucky to be part of a fantastic group of teammates and high-quality staff. To play at a club like Arsenal for as long as I have, I don’t take that for granted at all,” McCabe emphasised.
“The feeling the fans give us as well, especially at the Emirates last Saturday. I know we’ve obviously got travelling fans coming up over the weekend as well. How important they are for me, I never take for granted putting on this shirt. To be heading into a semi-final of a Champions League is something I just can’t wait to embrace.”
Renée Slegers speaks on the importance of learning from the players
Head coach Renée Slegers spoke on the importance of having leaders like McCabe as she learns the ropes of head coaching in north London.
“I think there’s a couple of players in the team like Katie that have been here for so long. So they understand the club so well, and they know where the club comes from and where we want to go so clearly, and so it’s so good to work with them,: Slegers spoke.
“I think with Katie, when she says working with Aaron and me and developing the tactical game, I think Katie’s tactical understanding is on a very, very high level, and I think that’s where we learn from the player as well, because Katie sees and that’s the hard part as a coach. So you see the game from the sideline or from video footage, and you say this and this, and there and that, but then the player on the pitch has a totally different view on like, literally, a different view, a different perception of the game.
“I think sometimes we see things from up above, and we think this should be possible, this should be the solution. And then they go and say, like on the pitch, it actually looks like this. We think this player can do this job better, and they see the distances in a different way, for example. So we learn a lot from from the players, and Katie is definitely one of them.”
Slegers spoke on how she holds her individual time with players to a high regard, often placing it on the top of the priority list as she enters the training ground.
“I always tell myself in the morning or ahead of the week, there’s so many things that need to be done in the morning before the players come in. Players come in at 9:15, and our first team meeting starts at 10:15. We are done with our meeting 9:30 and then I have a window of 45 minutes before the team meeting starts to spend with players, and that’s my protected time with players.
“So I’d rather do go up early in the morning, six o’clock, to do my work, or stay a little bit longer in the afternoon. So when the players are available, we want to connect with them, and that’s something we want to commit to as a as a coaching staff, but we have to remind ourselves of it, because otherwise you get you get dragged into other work. So that’s that’s key for us, that we stay connected between staff and players.”
